About this Product

As a young gunner, Napoleon Bonaparte was trained in one of Europe's finest artillery arms. Both the technological sophistication of their weaponry and the skill of their gunners was largely the result of the adoption of the system devised by one man, Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval. Gribeauval's standardised system of parts and calibres allowed a degree of uniformity and sophistication in the French artillery that was unmatched throughout Europe, and allowed Napoleon to inherit and develop an arm that could dominate the battlefield. This volume covers the field artillery pieces of the system: the 4-, 8- and 12-pdr guns; light 1-pdr guns and mountain guns; and later innovations such as the 6-pdr gun.

Biographical Note

René Chartrand was born in Montreal and educated in Canada, the United States and the Bahamas. A senior curator with Canada's National Historic Sites for nearly three decades, he is now a freelance writer and historical consultant. He has written numerous articles and beauvalooks including almost 30 Osprey titles and the first two volumes of Canadian Military Heritage. He lives in Hull, Quebec, with his wife and two sons.Ray Hutchins was educated at the Duke of York's Royal Military School and served with the Royal Artillery in the Korean War and the Malaya Conflict. Following his demobilisation, he worked as a technical illustrator for Rolls-Royce (Aero) Ltd and the Ministry of Defence, working on both the Shah and Challenger tanks. Ray went freelance in 1980 and this is his first book for Osprey.

Contents

Introduction Design and Development Operational History The Variants Colour Plate Commentary